About Life Is Amazing

LIA LOGO - official black small (2015_02_06 09_56_39 UTC)“Life Is Amazing. So… why Life Is Amazing?”

The answer is, that actually it is.

Life Is Amazing focuses on the things editor and publisher Matt Wingett finds… well… amazing. His primary interest is on local history in the south coast of England, because as Matt puts it, “the local may seem small and unimportant on a global scale – but that’s what makes it worth celebrating. We live in a world of big businesses and big corporations, and we forget to be amazed by the things going on right on our doorstep, which give us our distinct identities. After all, most of us live in one place, not on all sides of the globe at once. The fact is, we have a physical relationship with where we live.”

That’s why Life Is Amazing is dedicated to publishing books of interest to people in the South of England. It’s about identity and history on one level, and it’s about recognising local talent that hasn’t yet made it to the national level. It’s about telling stories, be they the true stories of real people who lived in the past, or the fab fiction of writers in the south who are making their own tales up to entertain and delight you.

That leaves Life Is Amazing with a wide remit – but always focused on good things going on in and around the south – and especially in Portsmouth.

Keep coming back! We’ll be publishing so much more over the years.

 

About Matt Wingett

Matt Wingett - small picMatt Wingett is the publisher, editor, designer and general dog’s body of Life Is Amazing.

He has always been interested in writing, having started his first story when he was six years old. At various times since then, he has looked back, wondered what the hell he was doing spending so much time writing instead of having a life, given up, taught English in Egypt, come back again, run a computer company and a successful rare book dealership – and finally thrown up his hands in defeat and said:

“I give up! I can’t help writing, so I’ll have to just get on with it.”

Matt has written episodes of The Bill for ITV, national newspaper articles, stories, and books.

He is a keen local historian with a wide and detailed knowledge of Portsmouth history, and finds so many of the things he discovers about the city to be, yes, amazing.  Hence the name of the small publishing house he started.

Matt also writes advertising copy, delivers entertaining talks and educational classes on local history, and teaches creative writing.

He’s glad you’re here, and would be even gladder to hear from you about a talk, a lecture – or that you loved one of the books he’s published. So don’t be shy. Get in touch.

4 Replies to “About Me”

  1. Hi Matt, I’m a Portsmouth person, through and through. My Dad (who wrote stories of his past) and Mum were as well and their history and memories are interwoven with Portsmouth and Southsea. I have just read your Three Belles Story, long overdue, but I only get a chance to read fiction when I’m on holiday( at the moment, ironically, in Berlin) Loved it, with all the Portsmouth references. I could picture it all in my head. Where can I access the other stories that are mentioned as I would love to read those too? Many thanks.

  2. Hello Sarah,

    I’m glad you liked The Three Belles book so much!

    We actually have several different books with Pompey stories in.

    My own are available in e-book here:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=matt+wingett

    I would also recommend the Paperback version of Portsmouth Fairy Tales for Grown Ups – which also has three of my stories in it.

    You can either pick that up from Waterstones or Blackwell’s in Portsmouth – or order it from Amazon, here:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/095724133X/ref=sr_1_3_twi_2_pap?ie=UTF8&qid=1431423927&sr=8-3&keywords=matt+wingett

    It’s really heartening to get such positive feedback. Watch out for many more stories based in Pompey – these are just a few of what I have in the pipeline!

    All the best,

    Matt Wingett

  3. Thank you Joanne. I have a new novel in rewrite at the moment. Aiming for a winter release, I think.

    It’s called The Snow Witch – so, I hope you like it.

    All the best,

    Matt x

    PS – These comments really help, so thank you.

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